Reno, NV Grand Sierra Resort, July 24-25
This story was featured in the July 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art July 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
EXPECT TO see the usual knockout offerings in historic and contemporary western art at the 35th annual Coeur d’Alene Art Auction this month. Widely recognized as the leading western fine-art auction in the country, the sale gets underway at noon on Saturday, July 25, at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, NV. All 300 lots are on display starting on Friday morning, and Stremmell Gallery in Reno is offering previews by appointment until then.
Though potentially fewer collectors may attend the auction in person this year, public health concerns aren’t likely to dampen interest in the blue-chip sale, which sees, on average, 96 percent of all lots sold. Mike Overby, auction principal along with partners Peter Stremmel of Stremmel Gallery and Stuart Johnson of Settlers West Galleries in Tucson, anticipates a significant uptick in bidding by telephone and through the auction’s website—methods that “have always been a major part of the sale,” he says. “We’re planning to have our auction business-as-usual,” adds Overby. “We are in constant contact with Grand Sierra Resort, and we’ll adhere to any safety guidelines they have.”
However auction-goers choose to participate, they should be prepared for a spirited and competitive bidding atmosphere, with significant pieces by 19th-century masters Henry Farny and Thomas Moran headlining the sale. Coming to auction for the first time is NOMADS, a sizable American Indian scene by Farny that’s “considered to be his masterpiece,” notes Overby. “Farny didn’t do many oils, and definitely not many large ones like this, so this is one of those once-in-a-lifetime collecting opportunities,” he says of the 22-by-40-inch work, which is projected to fetch up to $2.5 million. Similarly, Moran’s 1883 painting GREEN RIVER, WYOMING, with a high estimate of $1.5 million, is notably larger than typical pieces by the Hudson River School painter. Substantial Moran pieces like this one, when they come to market, “create quite a stir,” says Overby.
Another work that has received a lot of interest is a striking floral still life by Taos Society artist Victor Higgins, entitled NEW MEXICO ZINNIAS, that’s selling for $200,000-$300,000. Also hitting the block is an ample selection of Charles M. Russell works, an early western landscape by Swedish-American painter Birger Sandzén, and dozens of other exemplary pieces by historic heavy-hitters including Gerard Curtis Delano, Maynard Dixon, William Herbert Dunton, Harvey Dunn, and Edgar Payne.
In the auction’s traditionally robust sporting art category, “we probably have one of the best Carl Rungius paintings to come to the sale in a decade,” notes Overby, referring to a vivid alpine scene titled HERD BULL that’s valued at $200,000-$300,000. Additional sporting-art highlights include rare portrayals of a polar bear and a red fox that are part of a larger group of “some very strong Bob Kuhns,” he adds.
Exceptional offerings from living artists are equally bountiful and include a major collection of paintings by Richard Schmid, a number of which appeared in a museum exhibition of the American realist’s masterworks at Mark Arts in Wichita, KS. Also expected to drive the sale’s success are brand-new, museum-quality creations from top western artists like Logan Maxwell Hagege, Jeremy Winborg, Martin Grelle, Andy Thomas, Don Oelze, Ken Carlson, and Z.S. Liang. “The artists give us their best work, and the clientele knows that,” says Overby. “They always bid competitively on these pieces that are fresh to the sale.” —Kim Agricola
contact information208.772.9009www.cdaartauction.com
This story was featured in the July 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art July 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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